When I wanted to take a "break", I'd go grab a lawn chair and sit near the grassy area with the 3 big screens (in front of Corona tent). Also you can get a free massage at the Thai tourism tent or score some freebies at Emirates (seat cushions, chocolates).

As for playing actual tennis - got invited to fill in for some missing guys at Monteray CC - part of 4th annual "Team Tennis Championships" for a Minnesota team that needed extra 4.0 men...

It was exactly what I was looking for from this thread...(play tennis in the morning, watch more in the afternoon + at night); great people and awesome dinner* Hope they have something like this at other tourneys too

**Btw, I checked out La Jolla - beach just north of SD and was cool to see the seals out there on the beach.

IW is known for this, but you have to experience it. Place is just full of rich old people who have retired here or come here for the desert lifestyle of golf and tennis. I went to a restaurant/bar last night, and only the waiters looked to be below 60.

Re: the picture: Imagine a pant-suit combination but with so many large openings that it seems it could slide and come off any time.

Man alive, that was some awesome tennis!! Got to see almost everyone: Nadal, Djokovic, Federer, Del Potro, Gulbis, Tsonga, Fish, Almagro, Haas, Wawrinka, Woz, Sharapova, Kirilenko, Errani, Kvitova. The only player I missed that I wanted to see was Murray.

Also did some major gawking at the hotel. Best was Jimmy Connors, who was in the lobby of the restaurant waiting for a table for breakfast. My friend chatted with him briefly. He was friendly and jovial, even though we were seated before he was. As we left to take his table, he said, "Enjoy the tennis!"

Saw lots of other player at the hotel. Gasquet was friendly to the kids who interrupted his breakfast to sign their huge tennis ball thingies, but he needs to avoid hunching over his food when he eats. Looks a little too caveman.

Benoit Pairre is a hunk of burning love. Gorgeous. Went back to the buffet bar many times. Man, that guy can eat!

Del Potro was working out on the eliptical in the gym, and then he had someone come and stretch him. He was nice to all the people who acknowledged him.

Alice Cornet is really, really pretty. She was in the elevator with her French friends, and she cleans up nicely and has great fashion sense. Shorter than I thought, maybe 5'6".

Watched ladies doubles (Petrova/Shrebotnik v. Zheng/Llangosteros-Vivas). Very fun match. I was surprised at the number of topspin lobs the ladies hit. And they worked, too. Poor Llangosteros-Vivas missed about five easy, easy, easy overheads into the net. Very shocking to see any pro who can't make makeable overheads.

Enjoyed the Bryon Bros v. Tipsarevic/Kubot. I really thought the Bryons would lose. Tipsarevic was on fire. That match proved once again that the players who can take the net will win.

Watched Kei Nishikori get smoked by Berloq. I was really surprised. Kei seemed to give up mentally. On match point down, he had an easy sitter close to the net. He was visibly confused about what to do, so he kind of bunted it to the open court. Berloq ran over and hit the easy winner. The whole match went that way, with Kei out of sorts and out of ideas. Very disappointing, that.

Overall, though . . . I was a little less happy with the tournament than I was in the past. All three days were crazy crowded, whereas in the past Monday and Tuesday were pretty quiet. This time, it was so crowded on the grounds that it reminded me of what it feels like to push through crowds on Fifth Avenue in NYC. I wonder if the problem is that they have increased the number of general admissions tickets or something?

The only place that wasn't a zoo was the main stadium. It makes me question whether I would ever buy a general admission ticket to fight through crowds like that.

I did hear about the Esmeralda. I thought it was not really a resort when I saw it from the outside, but later someone told me it had its own golf course and several pros stay there.

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Yeah, it has golf (my sister played there this week and told me it cost $195 for 18 holes plus $60 to rent clubs!). A lot of pros stay there (which is why we stay there!) and also at the Hyatt.

There is a shuttle between the hotel and the tennis garden. This year, they were very strict about making everybody show their room key to board. I saw a lot of people get turned away because they did not have a room key. I guess the bus company got wise to non-hotel guests parking on the property and taking the shuttle.

One of my friends is from Czechoslovakia and recognized Cibulkova (or was it Cirstea?) in the lounge. She went up and had a long conversation in Czech. She was very nice and seemed delighted to meet up with someone who could speak to her. One of her companions volunteered to take pics of her with my friend.

OK OK enough bragging but we need to see the pics here. Put it up on imageshack and do it all together in one go, otherwise it will keep trying to upgrade you to the premier paid service. Then copy and paste the list of links for forum use that it produces.

OK OK enough bragging but we need to see the pics here. Put it up on imageshack and do it all together in one go, otherwise it will keep trying to upgrade you to the premier paid service. Then copy and paste the list of links for forum use that it produces.

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I don't take pics, and I would never snap a pic of a player at the hotel without permission.

^^^ You are like me then. I took pics only because my wife insisted. Since the kid is in school, I went alone and let us say it created some tension. That is why I bought a memory-foam sandal for her from the FILA tent (I knew her size because she recently ordered shoes from the Internet). She is very happy now.